Report: JAN-Led Bipartisan Reforms Drove Significant Reduction in Use of Civil Asset Forfeiture in Minnesota
St. Paul, Minn. – Justice Action Network (JAN) Executive Director Lauren Krisai today joined Minnesota State Auditor Julie Blaha, a bipartisan pairing of lawmakers, and a representative from the Minnesota County Attorney’s Association for a press conference at the State Capitol to unveil a report detailing how bipartisan reform legislation enacted in 2021 has driven a significant reduction in civil asset forfeiture cases in Minnesota. JAN played a key role in the drafting and passage of the 2021 compromise legislation.
The report issued today by the Minnesota State Auditor’s Office found forfeitures are down by roughly 37% in the two years following the passage of 2021 law, with a 50% reduction since 2019. The 2021 law is largely credited for this reduction.
“The data released today shows a promising decline in the number of forfeitures in the state, and I’m happy to see that the 2021 law we worked on largely led to that decline,” said JAN Executive Director Lauren Krisai. “The 2021 law was not only a product of compromise across a vast and diverse set of partners, but importantly allows us to look back and see if there are opportunities to bring about more accountability and transparency to the forfeiture process.”
The Justice Action Network, the nation’s leading national bipartisan, evidence-based criminal justice reform advocacy organizations, worked extensively with lawmakers and other stakeholders in developing the 2021 legislation. Starting in 2019, JAN co-led a stakeholder forfeiture working group, tasked with developing bipartisan forfeiture reform recommendations for the Minnesota legislature. The 2021 legislation is a direct result of these efforts.
The legislation was co-authored by Sen. Mark Johnson (R-East Grand Forks) and Rep. Kelly Moller (DFL-Shoreview). Strong transparency and reporting requirements were included as key provisions in the legislation.
“Minnesota’s commitment to transparency allows us to continually evaluate the efficacy of its reforms,” Krisai said.
The report issued today also found that, while significant progress in reducing the widespread use of civil asset forfeiture has been made, important work remains to be done on the issue in Minnesota. The 2021 law still allows law enforcement to seize and forfeit property and certain amounts of cash without a criminal conviction or even an arrest if the seizure is related to a certain DUI or controlled substances “incident” and uncontested by the owner. The carve outs for these incidents made up 78% of all state level forfeitures in Minnesota in 2023. The report issued today indicates 97% percent of those forfeiture cases were handled administratively and not through the judicial court process, and 85% of those administrative cases went uncontested. Oftentimes, the cost of hiring a lawyer to contest a seizure is higher than what the property was worth.
“While the reductions in forfeitures are very promising, data from the report today show that law enforcement is still using forfeiture on everyday enforcement instead of targeting big fish or large criminal enterprises. It’s clear there is still work to do to better protect due process rights of Minnesotans,” Krisai said. “But that’s the great thing about the 2021 law – the data reporting requirement allows us to continually evaluate how forfeiture is being used in Minnesota and look for opportunities for improvements.”